Journalists react to being called ‘the enemy of the American people’

President Donald Trump took his press-bashing to a new level on Friday when he called journalists from The New York Times, ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC “the enemy of the American people.”

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017

The comment touched off a series of rebukes from journalists and public figures who defended the role of a free press in American society using the hashtag “#nottheenemy.”

JFK on the press, and the presidency, in a free society. Watch. pic.twitter.com/dsr61wEeo4

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 18, 2017

American heroes. Guardians of democracy. Journalists. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/oky4jElNmD

— Kathleen Bade (@KathleenFOX5) February 18, 2017

My dear friend Chris Hondros. He was killed covering the war in Libya. Great photog. Better person. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/BxTf3t9uEp

— Lizzie O’Leary (@lizzieohreally) February 18, 2017

This is Woodward and Bernstein. Nixon called them the enemy. They proved that no president is above the law. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/ekxoiBZis1

— Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) February 18, 2017

Alison Parker and Adam Ward were @CBSNews journalists in #Virginia. They were murdered mid-broadcast in 2015. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/g7mxPxYkPY

— Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) February 18, 2017

James Foley was an American journalist who was beheaded by ISIS while bravely covering the war in Syria. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/tyMSAiSLBC

— Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) February 18, 2017

President Trump may not care about the 1230 journalists killed since 1992. But he should for the 27 Americans on that list #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/cZdBd6VBwe

— Jason Stern (@IbnLarry) February 18, 2017

From every movie I’ve seen, being enemy of the people really should mean a higher paid position. #NotTheEnemy

— Eriq Gardner (@eriqgardner) February 18, 2017

This is Melville and Annalee Jacoby. They endured Corregidor and Bataan to tell Americans about the fighting in the Philippines #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/vutTws6Brl

— Bill Lascher (@billlascher) February 18, 2017

This is my dad. He wrote the first nationally published article on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/4VduijduR3

— Gretchen Peters (@gretchenpeters) February 18, 2017

This is the great L. Alex Wilson. A black journalist who was beaten by an angry white mob as he covered the Little Rock Nine. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/6ZuGTw8RFK

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) February 18, 2017

I’m #NotTheEnemy.

— Todd Clausen (@ToddJClausen) February 18, 2017

Written more than a century ago by Walter Williams, first dean of world’s first journalism school, my alma mater @Mizzou #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/HX99kSIF9G

— David Lee Preston (@DavidLeePreston) February 18, 2017

This is the @Newseum‘s Journalists Memorial, listing the 2,291 individuals who have died around the world reporting the news #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/FazzRTTQyL

— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) February 18, 2017

I’m a member of the media. I’m #NotTheEnemy. Neither were Ernie Pyle, Dorothy Day, Edward R. Murrow, Ida Tarbell. America is in their debt. pic.twitter.com/j1pmEeJgyN

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) February 18, 2017

From ‘SEDITION, A FREE PRESS, AND PERSONAL RULE May 7, 1918’

by President Theodore Roosevelt #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/9NMeBSV1xC

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 18, 2017

A journalist is a citizen. Who informs other citizens, as free citizens need. Some are killed doing it. I’m grateful to many who inform me.

— Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep) February 17, 2017

This is Paul Klebnikov, American journalist, who worked for Forbes magazine. He was murdered in Moscow. He was #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/5nARpsAMmR

— Jamie (@AlchemistYoga) February 18, 2017

#NotTheEnemy Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros. Killed while covering the front lines in Mistrata Libya. pic.twitter.com/k3HjrCwbQs

— WhiteRoseGeneration (@WhiteRoseGen) February 18, 2017

David Gilkey, an award-winning photojournalist for NPR, killed in Afghanistan on June 25, 2016. #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/TaqPJlXcGw

— LMS (@LMSCKQ) February 18, 2017

This is Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles, who was murdered in 1976 while investigating the Mafia #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/8hec4pJM9O

— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) February 18, 2017

This is Chauncey Bailey, an Oakland journalist, murdered in 2007 as a result of his reporting on corruption in his community #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/BEDwAXySqe

— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) February 18, 2017

This is David Bloom @realDonaldTrump. You might have known him. He died in Iraq in 2003 doing his job. He is #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/pMWo5xOrwM

— Liz Gumbinner (@Mom101) February 17, 2017

This is Daniel Pearl, @realDonaldTrump, a journalist kidnapped + killed by terrorists, 2002. They made a movie about him.He is #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/t7ueGaWL1S

— Liz Gumbinner (@Mom101) February 17, 2017

This is Anthony Shadid, @realDonaldTrump, a journalist who died in Syria after years explaining Mideast to fellow Americans #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/tirSsq1WHS

— David Beard (@dabeard) February 18, 2017

I am the enemy of people who call Americans the enemy of the American people. #NotTheEnemy

— Ron Fournier (@ron_fournier) February 18, 2017

“The only security of all is in a free press.” — Thomas Jefferson #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/cy0j4cuJet

— Tech of Meaning (@techofmeaning) February 18, 2017

“A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy.” -Nelson Mandela #NotTheEnemy pic.twitter.com/1pJXrOY6Fr

— Mike Levin (@MikeLevinCA) February 18, 2017

I mean, now that the president’s let the cat out of the bag, there’s really no need to hide it anymore… pic.twitter.com/CgbyAv18Y8

— Leah Wilson (@leahalexis) February 18, 2017

Mike Wilson, the editor of the Dallas Morning News, wrote a column that described the lives of the journalists — dubbed “enemies of the people” — that work in his newsroom:

Times are hard in our business. Recently I had to tell 50 enemies of the people that I will soon have jobs for only 30 of them. We interviewed all of them for the available positions, and one after another, they said, “I do a good job, but so does the enemy of the people who sits next to me, so you need to be sure to keep him.”

When an enemy of the people leaves us, we give sad, awkward speeches and eat cake.